What’s recently happened?
Good things must come to an end, and the Wheeler High School (WHS) Swim team is included with that statement.
The swim teams at WHS had been working hard to be the best they could this season. The girls have been practicing since late October and the boys have been practicing since mid November.
Throughout the season, many swimmers crushed their personal best times and won many races. Both boys and girls swim teams won conferences this year.
To celebrate this successful season, the swim banquet was held on March 19. During this celebration, three plaques were given out to three swimmers for Most Valuable Player, Mental Attitude, and Most Improved.
Lauren Hostetler, the girls team captain, received Most Valuable Player. Allison Serrano, a senior, received the Mental Attitude award. Emily Mistina, a junior, won the Most Improved” title.
Tommy Emery, the team captain for the boys, was given the Most Valuable Player plaque. Stephen Claussen, a junior, received the Mental Attitude Award. The Most Improved award was given to Max Claussen, a freshman.
What’s coming up?
The Academic Super Bowl will be held on April 16 in the WHS Auditorium. This competition is between many schools and it determines who will advance to the state contest.
Each school will have at least one team per academic subject. These include Social Studies, Mathematics, Literature, Fine Arts, and Science. Each team is allowed five people, but only three may be participating and actively answering questions at once. Halfway through the questions, two of the contestants will rotate out, but the designated captain will stay seated.
The teams have already shown great work ethic and perseverance at the Purdue Academic Invitational. WHS’ Fine Arts team and Literature team came in first place in their categories. Overall, WHS ended up in second place against eight other teams.
WHS hopes to send multiple teams to the state round, or at least do our best and come back feeling prideful of our efforts.
Staff spotlight:
Math Teacher Ben Kosal has been working as a math teacher and cross country coach for 15 years and hopes to continue for many more.
When Kosal was a sixth grader, he was sitting in math class and the teacher was explaining fractions.
“We had already learned this in fifth grade, and I paid attention in fifth grade, so I was so bored,” Kosal said.
He admits that looking back on this memory he might have come across as rude because he asked the teacher when he would learn something new. Using this experience, Kosal realized he wanted to become a math teacher.
In high school, he had a math teacher that truly influenced him to continue this path. His old math teacher influenced him so much that he went back to visit her well into his own teaching career, where she gifted him a poster.
This poster was very meaningful to him because it points out that it won’t matter what you wore to school, but what you learned and how you use that information. He believes that too many students are at school for the social life and not the academic aspect.
“God gave us two ears and one mouth,” Kosal said. “Choose your words carefully, and when you speak, you speak with fire.”
Kosal is adamant that people should listen more than talk.
“Never pass a teammate and say nothing,” Kosal said.
To explore the meaning behind his quote, he explains that if you get to a successful place in your life, whatever that means to you, you should turn around and give back to others.
“Encourage people to do the same to become successful, otherwise that is selfish. People need help in life,” Kosal said.
Kosal not only teaches, but also coaches the cross country team at WHS. He joined his cross country team as a freshman because his parents made him do a fall sport and none of the others jumped out at him. He fell in love with the sport and the environment very quickly.
He hopes to bring the love he has for the sport to many more athletes to come, and hopes he has already brought it to many he has coached in year's past.
To conclude, Kosal gave advice for up and coming students and graduating students.
“To the freshmen, work hard, do your homework. These next four years will shape your life, don't waste it,” Kosal said. “For the seniors, follow your heart. Do what you love. You live you.”
It is very obvious that Kosal wants the best for his students and for them to succeed in life and become good people.
Student spotlight:
Clara Davis is a sophomore at WHS. She has been a student here her whole life.
Some things Davis is passionate about are reading, listening to music, and being a part of the Social Studies Academic team. She has been on the team both years, and will continue until she graduates.
Davis also loves to read.
“I’ve probably read over 10 books already this year,” Davis said. “ “It's a fun way to learn and you get to dabble in topics you might not get to learn in your normal history classes.”
Davis’ favorite artist is Taylor Swift. She also enjoys music from the indi-pop genre, and has a record player she listens to songs on.
"It's important to inform yourself about past events," Davis said.
Lastly, Davis is a straight-A honor student.
“Stay focused, do your work. Don’t get behind. It's easier to get things done than stress out about them," Davis said. "Don’t worry about the amount of friends you have, as it’s quality over quantity.”